Over the delay in disclosing the names of officials allegedly disobeying orders in dealing with the rise in vector-borne diseases in the city, the Supreme Court has today slammed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

Over the delay in disclosing the names of officials allegedly disobeying orders in dealing with the rise in vector-borne diseases, Dengue, Chikungunya in the city, the Supreme Court has today slammed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

The apex court has earlier ordered the Health Minister to list up the names of official who are not taking orders from the ministry and are ignorant towards the rise of dengue and chikungunya cases in the national capital. Jain’s counsel CU Singh defended the courts order of fine on the minister, by claiming that they had time of 24 hours to file the affidavid. The court, however said that since people are dying every hour, more time could not be provided.

Satyendra Jain has previously blamed the BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for keeping the city dirty resulting in the rise in dengue cases. The comptroller and auditor general has also blamed the municipal bodies for not having proper operational procedure of surveillance and for the lack of the enough laboratories facilities.

In a report by AIIMS, among the total number of dengue and chikungunya patients visiting it 70% are from Uttar Pradesh, 10% from Bihar and rest from Delhi. Last year the total number of dengue cases were 15,867, claiming lives of at least 60.

The total number of dengue cases in Delhi, this year, rose to 1692 with 921 cases reported this month. The number of chikungunya cases are 3695. The number of fatalities relating to the vector-borne diseases rose to 21 with the Delhi government still searching for a solution to fight it.